Greatest Moments of NHL Season … So Far: first round, matchup 3

The 2019-20 NHL season had many incredible moments before it paused on March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, and now fans can decide which one was the best.

The Greatest Moments of the NHL season … So Far
have been placed into a bracket of 64 entries, and fans will vote on one matchup per day, ultimately deciding the greatest moment up until this point.
Fans can vote on Twitter and Instagram each day from noon until 10 a.m. ET the next day. Each day, the winner of that matchup will be revealed, and a new set of moments will go head-to-head.
Though fans will have the ultimate say, two NHL.com staffers will weigh in on the matchup each day to give his or her opinion on which one should advance to the next round.
In the second matchup Tuesday, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid's six-point game against the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 14 defeated Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk's between-the-legs goal against the Nashville Predators on Oct. 31.
The matchup Wednesday pits Los Angeles Kings forward Tyler Toffoli scoring the
first hat trick in an NHL outdoor game
at the 2020 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series against the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 15 against Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks scoring his
1,000th NHL point
against the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 19.

Tim Campbell, staff writer

I'll go with Toffoli and the first hat trick in an outdoor game, the NHL's 30th, in a 3-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche. It's unlikely the crowd of 43,574 at Falcon Stadium on the campus of the United States Air Force Academy much appreciated Toffoli's historic role in denying the hometown Avalanche a victory. Toffoli took a rebound at the right post and scored the first goal of the game at 14:01 of the first period, then scored the game-winning goal with a shot from the slot at 19:05 of the third. He scored into an empty net with five seconds left complete the hat trick. The feat turned out to be one final contribution to the Kings. Two days later, Toffoli was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for forwards Tim Schaller, Tyler Madden, a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. Toffoli played eight seasons with the Kings, scoring 290 points (139 goals, 151 assists) in 515 games and won the Stanley Cup in 2014.

Amalie Benjamin, staff writer

It's hard to beat that moment for Patrick Kane, even though Toffoli's was pretty special, because it wasn't only that Kane reached a milestone that only eight other United States-born players have reached -- 1,000 NHL points -- it was also the reception he got from the United Center crowd and his teammates. "What a moment, obviously, with everyone coming onto the ice and sharing that moment with me," Kane said at the time, noting how many of those teammates had been involved in so many of his points, like Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith. Kane became the youngest of the nine United States-born players to reach the mark, ahead of Jeremy Roenick (31 years, 61 days to Roenick's 32 years, 13 days). It was a celebration of all that Kane has accomplished in the NHL and all that he'll continue to accomplish in his career.